Still another river to cross says Maori principal

Tu Tangata, Issue 35, 1 April 1987, Page 27

Still another river to cross says Maori principal

HE RERENGA KORERO

Teachers not willing to cross another cultural boundary won’t survive. That’s the message Wellington High School and Community Institute Principal John Clarke has given to 250 new school teachers just starting work around the country. His advice came at their graduation from the Auckland College of Education. John Clarke didn’t mince his words about teachers he sees being stubbornly monocultural in outlook and willing to settle for security seeking. He says new teachers are just beginning their specialised training, and he would advocate a bicultural approach to counter deep-seated prejudices in society. He sees the Curriculum Review Report as being the blueprint for future education direction, breaking down boundaries firmly set in the teaching profession. He says a bicultural approach is a way of quelling the anger and criticism of Maori people towards an education system that has provided a meagre return. He says the ‘in’ word has become multiculturalism, but unfortunately this provides an ‘out’ for inaction, an

excuse for doing nothing. “If multiculturalism is a genuine objective, then surely biculturalism is the starting point.” John Clarke says the increasing cultural mix in schools means teachers have to face the situation head on, there is no way of avoiding it. The facts are these: The proportion of Maori students to non-Maori students in the education districts has shown a significant increase over recent years. In Wellington: 1 Maori pupil to every 6 non-Maori; Auckland: 1 Maori pupil to every 4 non-Maori; Hamilton: almost 1 to 2; Hawkes Bay: 1 to 2. And at the other extreme Otago: 1 Maori pupil to every 24 non-Maori. These figures do not take into account the Pacific Island groups. By the year 2010 the national ratio would be close to 1 for 1. When reasoned argument does not prevail, it forces people into a situation that makes them more aggressive and more determined to attack the system, or go their own separate way. The results of a separatist approach, as we know it on an international scale, are not good. There are many examples of a separatist approach being taken in

New Zealand today: The Kohanga Reo movement nationwide, the Hoani Waititi School, Auckland, the Rotorua school run by a group of ex state school teachers, Otaki Maori University, Te Wananga o Raukawa, are some of the selfdetermined, self-reliant type of Maori educational institutions that have been set up around the country. Their message is quite clear, which is: If the State is not prepared to accept our values, to foster the indigenous language of this country, to give our young people a better return, then we will go our separate way. For them, the reality of our schools is not in line with their aspirations as parents. Graffiti can be a real art form, as I noticed during my travels on the Continent in 1984. One particular message that attracted my attention was this: “A person who speaks 3 languages is TRI-LINGUAL, a person who speaks 2 languages is 81-LINGUAL, a person who speaks 1 language is AN ENGLISHMAN.” Don’t let that be said about US, as New Zealanders.